Trump as US president might be useful

Wow, thanks for that, Thatbags! I must read it cos I find the prospect of the Wigged One becoming president very scary.

I feared this would be clutching at straws, but having read it, an excellent article.
If only the effect could be achieved without Trump being elected....a bit like vaccination with cowpox to prevent smallpox!

That is why Americans are voting for Trump in such large numbers.

I personally think anyone who doesnt live permanently in a country, does not really know and understand what a person in another country feels, and yes knows.
Living with something day by day is not the same as anything else.

Their education system is ranked 28th in the world. Which is the statistic that always gets me. 28th!!

This is also why they have gone for Trump - he is seen as a winner. Plus they "know" him from reality programmes. A lot of Americans are switched off from politics, so dont "know" the politicians.

Let us hope that enough democrats come to their senses and back Bernie Sauders! The votes are anti Hilary rather than pro Donald.

It might wake people up but I fear that would be just before he presses the button and we all die horribly.

Infecting [hypothetically, of course] a whole country with a cancer to see if some chemo would help their troubles would be utterly stupid. Just the sort of thing Trump would say.

Can't see any hypothetical good in the article at all.

It occurs to me that one might use the same hypothetical cancer analogy with the Eu Referendum - and which type of chemo would provide the best outcome.

As one might guess, I am becoming increasing angry with the polarisation of political thought.

I think that damaging polarisation of political thought is exactly what the article is seeking to address.

The authors agree, after all, that "there is no good case for Trump [as US president]".

What on earth is Quillette, and why would anyone be reading it at 7 o'clock in the morning? #Gransnetsoddcharacters

I am not sure everybody got the point of the article - at least I think I got it

Quillette is a new magazine for freethinkers, jings. If reading it makes me odd then odd I am. Stop trivialising, please.

Me? Trivialise Donald Trump? Never!!!

I might be able to force my brain to read the article at my prime time of 11o'oclock tonight. I might report back.

I might read it if it rains next week.

I get the point of the article in that it aims to challenge political thought, but I think that is exactly what Trump is doing, in his own dangerous way. Both Trump and the article are singing from the same hymn sheet.

Some of us are larks; some of us are owls. I don't give a fuck whether you read the article, jings, darling. Mwah.

It'd be lovely if you contributed something insightful, or even just 'ponderful', about the subject under discussion to the thread though.

Interesting viewpoint, finn. I'm not sure I agree that they are starting from the same point though, and definitely not that they have the same aims in view. Trump comes across to me as destructive; I think the authors are putting forward a constructive idea via what seems just at the moment to be an actually possible, very negative scenario.

Are not the aims the same though? To stir up, to agitate, to shake the American political system into some kind of new order. The outcomes might be different though.

Enjoying the discussion, but have to fly off now ....

I guess I'm looking beyond the stirring up to a good outcome. I have to believe in that or I'd give up on humanity!!

The white working class feel they have been left behind and so will vote Trump. It is a pity that Sanders could not get the nomination over Hilary. My American contacts do not like her any more than Trump. She is seen as 'old' and 'establishment' with too much baggage. Also, she isn't a very nice person or very likeable. Sanders would sweep the board. Americans will vote for Trump because he is seen as living the American Dream and they really believe he can 'make America great again'. Sanders would sweep the board if he got the Democratic nomination. Trump will be a dangerous President but a President's powers are constrained by Congress and the Senate so maybe the world will survive.

Since I am an American I will tell you that we will be in deep trouble if Trump is elected. One of the reasons our educational system is a mess is that we now have business people involved in making decisions for educators. Having been a teacher I see that the money has not gone to the schools as it should. Imagine in this day and age teaching a class with no books for each student to take home. Imagine having to buy your own supplies. Imagine working in conditions that are unsanitary . Yes these are what the teachers have to endure and more. If Trump gets elected I would have to think about moving to Canada. He is vile in his talk about women and minorities. He talks impulsively and doesn't think. Our political system is outdated with our electoral college. You can win the popular vote yet not get the states vote. Each state is given electoral votes based on the population of that state. It's not a one vote one person election. Millions of dollars are spent on campaigning with no cap on monies spent. Usually big corporations give their money to back the candidates. So it's really the wealthy who run the country . ( you contribute to my campaign and I will do favors for you) Did you know Trump gave to Hillary Clintons last campaign? Bernie Sanders is standing up for the average person.( He actually got arrested in college for protesting for civil rights for all people. ) What took our country down in 2008 was the greed of the big corporations of which there was very little punishment. People are sick of that 1 or 2 per cent having it all and being able to be in the pocket of the politicians. There is a lot of controversy about Hillary also. The campaigning for a year is tiring and what is promised is not always given.

Interesting what you say about schools Rhinestone. I didnt know that. It explains a lot.
I knew about the rest of your post.

Even the authors say:

“What we’ve written constitutes the only reasonable case for supporting Trump, and it’s weak.”

I think the reason the article was rejected by so many newspapers etc is exactly that - it IS a weak argument. And written in a rather dull way which is unsuited to most press ... and it also uses too many superlatives.

Thanks for pointing me to it anyway. There are some other articles on the Quillette site, such as the review of The Power of Passion and Perseverance and the article on protectionism which are worth a read. I hadn't seen this site before. Interesting.